Dublin 2-20
Cork 2-13

The darling of Hill 16, Bernard Brogan, came off the bench to inspire All-Ireland champions Dublin to a remarkable FL1 semi-final victory over Cork at Croke Park today.

A sensational second half performance from Jim Gavin's team saw them overturn an eight point half-time deficit and the 2010 'Footballer of the Year' was the main architect of their comeback.

The Rebel County arrived at GAA headquarters with five wins and a draw to their credit from the group stage and the Michael Shields captained outfit made the All-Ireland champions look very ordinary as they raced into a 2-3 to 0-2 lead after just eight minutes.

By the halfway stage, Cork enjoyed a 2-9 to 0-7 cushion, with Brian Hurley hitting five first half points from play, but Dublin staged a Lazarus-like comeback in the second half when outscoring them by 2-13 to 0-4 .

Colm O'Neill put the Rebels on a forward footing with 1-1 while Dublin captain Stephen Cluxton - back between the nets after suspension - won't care to be reminded about Cork's second goal.

The Parnells clubman failed to deal with a speculative high delivery by Mark Collins into his area and the ball ended up in his net via a ricochet off luckless defender Nicky Devereux.

Cork started the second half where they left off in the first half with full-back Jamie O'Sullivan and Daniel Goulding raising white flags inside the opening two minutes.

As you would expect from a team of their calibre, Dublin refused to lie down and a Michael Dara Macauley goal in the 40th minute initiated their revival but, even by their high standards, the energy they brought to their second half display was something to behold.

Goulding pointed a free at the other end following a foul by James McCarthy on Paul Kerrigan but the 44th minute arrival of Brogan on the field for his first appearance in the sky blue jersey since last September's All-Ireland final altered the complexion of the game.

Four points on the spin from Brogan (2 frees), Diarmuid Connolly and Davy Byrne cut Dublin's deficit to four points, 1-11 to 2-12.

Centre-back Patrick Kelly ended an 11 minute barren spell for the team in red and white in front of the posts in the 52nd minute but it proved to be nothing more than a temporary stay of execution as, straight from the resulting kick-out, the Munster men's goalkeeper Ken O'Halloran had to be on his toes to divert a Paul Flynn goal bound effort over his crossbar.

Points from Eoghan O'Gara, Brogan (free), Jonny Cooper and Macauley had Dublin back on level terms with 10 minutes to go on the clock.

All the momentum was in the team in sky blue's favour at that stage and Bernard gave them the lead (1-17 to 2-13) before brother Alan got in on the scoring act two minutes later.

Cork's challenge then cracked beyond repair when James Loughrey conceded a penalty for a foul on Bernard in the 65th minute and Connolly made no mistake when sending O'Halloran the wrong way.

It was appropriate that Bernard should have the final say when sending over Dublin's 20th point in the second minute of added-on time.

Dublin - S Cluxton; J Cooper (0-1), R O'Carroll, P McMahon; J McCarthy, N Devereux, K Nolan; MD Macauley (1-1), D O'Mahony; J Whelan, A Brogan (0-1), D Connolly (1-2); K McManamon (0-1), P Flynn (0-1), P Andrews (0-4). Subs: E O'Gara (0-3) for Whelan (26), D Byrne (0-1) for O'Mahony (ht), B Brogan (0-3) for McManamon (44), D Nelson for Nolan (56), C Reddin (0-1) for Andrews (66), T Brady for O'Gara (72).

Cork - K. Halloran; M. Shields, J O'Sullivan (0-1), Tom Clancy (Clonakilty); J Loughrey, P Kelly (0-1), D Cahalane; F Goold (0-1), A O'Sullivan; M Collins (1-1), D O'Connor (0-1), P Kerrigan; D Goulding (0-2), B Hurley (0-5), C O'Neill (1-1). Subs: J O'Rourke for O'Connor (44), A Walsh for Goulding (48), J Hayes for O'Neill (55), N Galvin for Clancy (60), Tomas Clancy (Fermoy) for O'Sullivan (63), K O'Driscoll for Kerrigan (71).

Ref: C Branagan (Down). Tweet

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